Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 October 2015
With advances in medical knowledge, increasing numbers of very small and very sick infants are surviving. Only a small percentage of these infants have severe disabilities. However, the risk of more subtle handicapping conditions such as learning disabilities, behaviour problems and recurrent illness needs to be assessed. The prevalence of these conditions in a population of 88 high risk infants was investigated when these children reached nine years of age. In general, the children were found to be in good health, although there was an increased risk of asthma. In contrast, a high percentage were experiencing learning difficulties or exhibiting behaviour problems. Thus, the medical problems of infancy appeared to have been replaced with educationaland behavioural problems in the school years. The perinatal, developmental and social antecedents of these problems require further investigation.